Twisted
by Dracefic
Summary: Sometimes broken bones lead to more than just the formation of callus at the fracture site... Hawaii 5-0 team and friendship story! Carguments included of course... ;)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys... First attempt in the Hawaii 5-0 universe. - Hope you enjoy! :)**

* * *

"Max! I was surprised you called me here… what's up?"

"Commander McGarrett. I wanted to share some interesting… findings with you."

Steve immediately frowned at that. "Findings? Findings on what, Max? We haven't even caught a case yet, have we." Not really a question.

Without replying anything, Max simply turned towards the screen he had set up behind the autopsy table, highlighting what looked to be a couple of x-rays of a human forearm.

"We have a 38-year-old male victim, presenting with a spiral fracture of the left forearm."

Steve looked around with a confused expression. "Uh, Max… who is this victim? I don't see a victim around here."

Then, when Max didn't reply anything, but simply kept staring at him: "Wait. Is this _Danny's_ x-ray? – Why would you have his x-ray?!" His partner had broken his forearm last week, during a painting job at his new apartment apparently gone bad…

Again without a reply, Max simply turned towards the x-rays again. "The injury report says he 'fell off a ladder', hitting his forearm on the living room table in the process and thereby fracturing two bones in his forearm. – Thing is: This is a _spiral fracture_ of both the ulna and radius."

Steve was once again staring at him uncomprehendingly. "Accident report? There's been no accident report… it happened during his time off!"

Max simply ignored the objection, continuing as if the other man hadn't spoken. "You see, spiral _fractures_ usually occur when a rotating _force_ is applied along the axis of a bone. A mechanism that is _incompatible_ with the description of an impact on a stationary surface, however hard it may have been…"

The frown on Steve's face magnified at that. "So, you're saying Danny lied about the accident? – Why would he do _that_?!" His tone betrayed his skepticism. "Plus, he did actually paint is apartment last week, so it does make sense, Max…"

The doctor again just ignored his reply, simply continuing his sober report as if about some abstract foreign person. "It _would_ , however, be compatible with a twisting motion of a body while the affected extremity is fixed or _planted_. _Or_ with a forceful twisting of a limb by a perpetrator, say for example during child _abuse_."

Steve abruptly straightened up at that, his whole body language taking on a somewhat threatening stance. He raised an incredulous eyebrow. "You saying someone did this to Danny…? – That doesn't make any sense… why wouldn't he tell us?!"

"I am simply reciting a case history here, Commander McGarrett. I wouldn't even have access to the medical records of Detective Williams."

With a somewhat dubious glance towards the pictures in question, Steve slowly nodded. "Yeah, sure Max, I know, so… You sure about these… findings?"

Just a nod. "I am quite certain, Commander. Simply based on the specific type of injury, the involvement of another person is extremely likely; unless of course the victim held onto the ladder while falling, then twisted around his own arm, all the while still holding onto the ladder. A theory which I find very hard to believe."

Steve had to agree there.

"Okay Max, thanks. I'll take care of it."

 **tbc...**


	2. Chapter 2

"So… how's the arm?"

Danny turned towards his partner at the somewhat unexpected question, brow immediately wrinkled in some sort of incredulous confusion. "Uh… broken, Steven, thank you for asking."

Steve kept his eyes on the road. "Yeah! I mean, I know, I just… wanted to know how it's feeling, I guess. – Pain still bad?"

Danny simply kept staring at him. " _Is the pain still bad_?!" He finally echoed incredulously. "Why, no, Steven, it actually feels very _good_! The cast is just for show you know… sympathy points and all that." With that he also turned his head towards the road again.

A minute of silence, then:

"So… fell off the ladder, huh?"

To his credit, Danny hesitated only briefly before he finally seemed to be having enough. "Okay, Steve… what's this about? – Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?" He didn't really wait for a reply. "This about my sick days? Don't know if you've noticed buddy, but I didn't TAKE any! – Or about my field eligibility? As you can see: I'm HERE! And I can still shoot with my right, so everything's good really…"

" _Field eligibility_? What are you talking about?! – You think you're just an asset to me? That I'm only worried about you as far as your usefulness on the task force goes…?"

"Well I… no, of course not. I guess I just don't understand what you're asking me here."

"Kay, Danny, then I'll just be more direct."

"Great! Direct is good, direct is – "

"Did you actually break your forearm falling off a ladder?" He carefully enunciated each word as if talking to a small child – or a deaf person.

A very brief hesitation. Then: "That's what I said, isn't it."

"Yes, it is, Danny. But now I'm asking you again: Is that what actually happened?"

A longer pause this time. Then:

"No."

"Wh… no?!" Steve eventually gave back incredulously. No matter what Max had told him before, he still hadn't really expected this. He couldn't help but turn his head now, trying to catch the expression on Danny's face in between necessary checks on the road. "What do you mean 'no'...? What the hell _happened_ then, Danny?"

The blond man exhaled audibly at that, pressing the fingers of his good hand into his eyes briefly, before bravely facing the world again. "There might have been… an altercation with someone. But it has NOTHING to do with work and I _don't_ wanna talk about it."

"An… _altercation_? – What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Which part of 'I don't wanna talk about it' didn't you get here? I don't wanna talk about this incident! Is that so hard to understand…?!"

A tense half-shrug. "It's not hard to _understand_ , but it's somewhat hard to _accept_ , PARTNER! You really expect me to just let this go with not even half an explanation…?"

Danny started rubbing his eyes again, posture finally deflating slightly. "I'm _fine_ , Steve, okay? There's nothing to worry about. And talking about it is not gonna make this any less painful or make it heal any faster, you know?"

Steve threw his partner another short glance at that, not liking what he saw one bit. "I guess I just don't understand why you didn't press charges. No matter how this 'altercation' went about exactly… this is still an assault charge, Danny. You know that. Why are you protecting whoever did this to you."

"Assault charge… Steve! Would you directly run to the police if I accidentally broke your arm playing fantasy football?"

Steve's forehead scrunched up dramatically at that. "How would you even – "

"It was a metaphor! My point is: Not every bad thing that happens in the privacy of my own house needs to be taken to the authorities."

Steve calmly nodded at that. "Apartment, is more like it... And I agree, but – "

"He agrees! How beautiful. – Why don't we just leave it at that."

"What I meant to say is: I agree, Daniel; however, a spiral fracture is not something that should occur during a standard day or evening in the 'privacy of your own house'!"

"Spiral… How do you even know about that? – Did you actually STEAL my _medical records_? Or get my doctor to betray the confidentiality clause…? – I can't believe you!"

"This is not… this is not what happened, Danny! And it's not important _how_ I know. – But I know, Danno, and I can't just forget or ignore that now."

No reply.

"I'm really worried here, buddy, so why don't you just level with me... I thought we were friends."

Danny roughly started rubbing his forehead at that. "You thought we were… We _are_ friends, Steve! – But that doesn't mean you need to know every minute detail of my life! We've been over this before, buddy… that is not what friendship is."

"Then what about 'your problems become my problems', huh? That suddenly not true anymore?"

"There's no _problem_ , Steve." Danny sounded more angry than anything else by now, obviously fighting for patience. "That's what I keep trying to tell you. So you _can_ , in fact, simply let this go. Because there's no crisis to solve here. What crisis there was has already been solved by the nice people in white coats who so expertly corrected the placement of my bones and applied this shiny cast, you see?"

"Danny…" It was more of a sigh than an actual word. "If it's all so harmless, then why don't you simply tell me what happened. – Promise it stays between me and you, and I'm not gonna do anything you don't want me to."

Another long exhale of breath. Then Danny seemed to steel himself. "Okay. I met someone, alright? And there was a… misunderstanding regarding the… intended events of the night."

Steve stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment. "I don't… So she didn't wanna sleep with you and you what… struggled? And she broke your arm…?!"

"What? No! Are you nuts?! You think I – I've never hurt a woman in my _life_ , Steven! And I certainly wouldn't struggle with her over something like that… What makes you even _say_ something like that?!"

"Then what are you _telling me_ , Daniel." He honestly seemed at a loss, lightly thumping the steering wheel now in frustration.

Danny's tone was suddenly much more quiet. " _I_ didn't wanna have sex with _him_ , Steve. It got a little physical, obviously, but we managed to… resolve our issues I guess."

He didn't know exactly what reaction he had expected, but it certainly wasn't Steve very abruptly stopping the car by the side of the road.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… what are you _doing_?!" They'd literally gone from 60 to zero in two seconds flat. "Have you completely lost your mind now?! This is a _highway_!"

" _A little physical_ …?" Steve simply echoed incredulously, staring at his friend with obvious shock on his face. "A broken arm is not 'a little physical'! Did he…? Oh God, Danny…"

"No! He didn't… do anything beyond the blatantly obvious. And he didn't even mean to do _that_. – But it doesn't matter anyway. He's obviously out of the picture."

"Are you sure? Danny, this is serious… if he – "

"I'm sure!" He replied more loudly than strictly necessary. "Look, man, I appreciate the concern, I really do… But I told you all that happened now. I promise. And I see how that is probably bad enough, but nothing else happened. Certainly not what you're implying… – Well, I yelled, obviously. He flinched back and left. That's it."

Obviously still not the right thing to say. – Steve's face hardened immediately. "Name, Danny. Now."

"No, no, no…" Danny shook his head biting back an unexpected grin. "Not gonna happen, big guy. I don't need you defending my virtue. And I'm certainly not some damsel in distress for you to rescue. – I am _fine_ , Steve. Let's please just forget about this."

Steve grimaced as if in pain himself. "You want me to _forget about this_?! Are you serious…? I'm not gonna forget about this… I'm fucking furious!"

Danny lifted a hand in a tensely frustrated gesture. "I can certainly _see_ that. But I still need you to stay out of this." A brief moment of stunned silence. Danny took his chance to continue. "Or do you seriously expect me to disclose this certainly surprising information to HPD? You think that would be beneficial in any way to 5-0, or to my life here on this goddamn pineapple infested rock for that matter?" Not really a question. "I'm surprised _you're_ not decking me as we speak! And I'm sure not everybody will be quite as understanding once they know that one of their _colleagues_ appreciates the occasional _dick_..."

Steve simply breathed for a minute, before replying in a hopefully reasonable tone of voice: "That's why I'm asking you for his name, Danny. We don't need HPD if you simply let me kick the asshole into next week, as he deserves…"

"I'm touched, big guy, I really am… but it's still not gonna happen. So do me a favor for once and just, please, stay out of this."

 **tbc... :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"Do Chin or Kono know…?"

Danny reluctantly took his eyes off a spectacular quarterback sack to return his friend's soft gaze, trying not to tense up at the subject he had hoped – but not really expected – to not have to revisit. Leaning back slightly on Steve's couch, he resigned himself to the fact that this was apparently something they had to do now.

"What, about the spiral fracture? I still don't even know how _you_ know about this, so no; they don't."

"No, I meant about… the other thing."

A brief moment of silence, followed by a slightly tense half-shrug. "Course not. I haven't told anyone here…"

"Does Rachel know?"

"Sure." Another small shrug. "It was never an issue."

"What about Gracie…?"

The thought made Danny smile. "Nah… not yet. Would be difficult to explain probably. And it hasn't come up in a while anyway…"

They watched the game a while longer before Steve finally spoke again. "I can't believe you didn't tell me, man… Can't believe that – after all we've been through – you didn't think you could trust me with this."

Danny couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. "It was never about trust, Steve… I trust you, you know that. – I just didn't wanna complicate things if the subject never came up anyway!"

Steve frowned heavily at that. " _Complicate things_? – What did you think would happen if you told me…?"

Danny shook his head slightly, looking clearly uncomfortable now. "I don't know, I mean… You're a Navy SEAL, man! I know that stuff like that doesn't exactly – " He didn't finish the sentence.

Steve frowned at that. "Doesn't exactly what, Danny? – Dammit, you _know_ me! Did you really think that this would make me think any less of you…? You're my closest friend!"

Danny looked stunned for a second. "Wow, that's… nice." Then, somewhat hesitantly making eye-contact again: "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, babe. I just didn't know how to bring it up really; not without any kind of acute reason."

Steve's expression darkened at that. "And you didn't think a _broken forearm_ due to an _assault on your person_ might have been sort of an 'acute reason'…?"

At least Danny had the good grace to look a little sheepish by now. "Yeah, I… now see that that was a mistake. I'm really sorry about the lie, Steve. It won't happen again."

* * *

It was almost a week later, when Steve entered Five-0 headquarters to find Danny talking quietly to someone in his office. He'd almost just passed by to go to his own desk, when he caught a few of the quietly muttered words: "Can't believe I actually broke it, I mean are you even sure about that? And anyway… don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit?"

"You seriously asking me that? – No. I don't." Danny sounded perfectly calm, but his posture betrayed the tension he must be feeling. It made Steve's hackles rise. Not wasting any more time, he simply barged into the room without any prior arrangement.

"Are you fucking kidding me…? You actually have the nerve to show up here?!" He immediately invaded the guy's personal space, forcing him back a few steps and planting himself firmly between the asshole and his partner. Inwardly, he congratulated himself on his restraint…

"Uh… who the hell are you?"

" _Who the hell am I_?" Steve's voice was dangerously calm now. "I'm Commander Steve McGarrett. And you, _my friend_ , are in serious trouble if you don't get outta here _right this second_!"

The slightly younger man lifted both hands in mock surrender. "Listen, man, I don't know what he told you, but – "

"Is he still talking…?" To Danny; then, much more loudly and turned towards Danny's assailant again: "Why are you still talking?! Get out, _now_ , or I'm gonna arrest you and throw your ass in a cell where it belongs! Swear to God…"

The other man surprisingly grinned slightly at that. "I don't think so. 'Cause I don't think your colleagues at HPD – "

Steve didn't even let him finish. "Get. The fuck. Out. – You have three seconds."

Another small laugh.

"One."

"Listen, man…"

"Two," Steve reached for Danny's cuffs.

"Okay! Okay, man. No need to do all this… I'm outta here."

And he was, after another sharp glance towards first Steve, then Danny.

Once he had left, Steve slowly turned towards his partner who had unconsciously started cradling his left hand in his good right one a little as if to protect it. "You okay…?"

"Yeah!" Danny immediately let the arm fall back by his side, blushing briefly, then quickly looking up again when Chin appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, guys… everything alright?"

Steve didn't reply anything, while Danny reflexively nodded. "Everything's good, yeah, no worries..." He saw Steve clench his jaw so hard, the muscles jumped crazily under his skin. Hesitating slightly, he finally continued bravely: "But the… guy you just saw leaving might be a little trouble, so I'd appreciate a heads up if you ever see him here again."

Chin frowned slightly at that. "Sure, Danny, no problem." Then, predictably, because nothing ever was that easy: "What kind of trouble are we talking about though?"

Steve was very surprised when his partner actually replied.

"The kind of trouble where _he's_ the one that actually broke my arm – and that's the end of this story."

Chin just looked at him for a moment, before finally replying with a slow nod and his trademark composed expression. "I see." Then, quietly: "Any other injuries we should know about…?"

Danny huffed out a pained laugh at that. "What – you think I can't handle myself in a fight with a civilian?!"

Chin's face grew even more serious. "That's not what I was saying, Danny. But I assume you didn't _expect_ the fight, or he wouldn't even have been able to do _that_." He nodded towards Danny's casted left arm.

Exhaling slowly, Danny forced himself to relax. "Yeah, alright, you're right… But no, I'm fine. – No other injuries."

Somehow, the silence that followed felt weighted.

"Okay, _brah_. Just let me know if you need anything. Anytime; you know that…"

Danny managed a small but sincere smile. "'Kay. Thanks, Chin."

As soon as he had left the room, Steve turned towards his partner. "I thought you hadn't told him!"

"I haven't!"

"Yeah, well, he clearly knows…"

" _Something_. He clearly knows _something_ … He knows something's up, he can't know what though, exactly."

Steve gently patted his shoulder with a small smile. "Yeah, sure, partner… you keep telling yourself that." Then, much more seriously: "And anyway… Don't you think it would be a good idea to let both Chin and Kono in on everything officially anyway?"

Danny started rubbing his forehead at that, clearly stressed by the whole situation. "I'm… What do you want me to say?!"

"Just the truth! That you like girls, a lot, we all know that," he gave his partner a soft smile, "but that you sometimes like boys, too," he finished with a slightly awkward half-shrug.

Danny immediately grimaced at that. " _Girls_? _Boys_? Seriously?! – Remind me not to involve you, should I ever decide to tell Grace about any of this…"

This time, it was Steve who smiled at the thought, his posture slowly relaxing again. "Okay, I'll remind you. – And just think about it, okay? This is your _ohana_ , they're your friends, Danny. Nothing bad is gonna happen if you tell them the truth." He reached out to gently squeeze one of Danny's shoulders giving him what he hoped was a reassuring smile, then quickly turned towards the door.

"Hey, Steve!" Stopping immediately, he met his partner's earnest gaze again at the quiet call. "Thanks for, you know… being so cool with all of this and keeping your word to stay mostly out of it. – Except for the caveman-style move of blocking his way to me with your own _body_ of course! – I know that must be difficult for you…"

Steve managed another small smile. "In the words of the ever wise Chin Ho Kelly: Whatever you need, partner."

* * *

 **Tbc... Thanks for your reviews so far! They're very much appreciated :)  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Both of their phones simultaneously started buzzing, as soon as Steve and Chin had reached the exit of the cave again that had proven to be yet another dead end on this very slow case which seemed to be dragging for days now.

"Huh… Danny tried calling me – isn't it his evening off?"

Steve immediately nodded, frowning slightly. "Yeah, he tried me, too… And yes, he's off tonight. Preparing his place for Grace this weekend." He sounded distracted, already trying to call his friend back. "He's not answering his phone."

Chin smiled slightly at the concern he could easily read on the other man's face. "I'm sure he's fine, _brah_. But why don't we swing by his place then, just to be sure… And let me call Kono, see if he contacted her as well." He hadn't.

Five minutes later, they were on their way back, Steve changing lanes aggressively while once again trying his friend. "Dammit… why doesn't he just pick up?!"

"There could be any number of reasons, you know that," Chin replied calmly. "You need to try and relax, my friend. I'm sure this is nothing. – And even if it is, he'll still be fine. Danny's actually an extremely competent cop, you know?"

"Oh, really?!" Steve shot back sarcastically. Then, much more seriously again: "He's my _partner_ , Chin, so I know. But he's also injured right now."

Chin let the tense words stand for a moment, before asking quietly: "You worried this may be about the guy who visited Danny at the office the other day…?"

"I don't know, I mean… it could be. I have no idea. But I have a bad feeling about this."

Chin seemed about to ask more, but hesitated then before finally just nodding. "I know; and that's why we're going to see him. But it really might be nothing, so try not to panic right now, okay?"

"I'm not panicking, I'm just," he seemed to be looking for the right words for a moment, before finally finishing with a mildly embarrassed half-shrug: "...reasonably concerned."

Chin couldn't help but smile slightly at that. "That you are, my friend; that you are."

* * *

"Danny?!" They'd both heard the dull thumping sound as soon as they had approached their friend's door. Steve continued knocking loudly. "Danny? Open the door!" When nothing happened, he simply rammed it open.

They found Danny on the floor, kneeling on somebody's back and awkwardly closing a pair of handcuffs around the man's wrists.

"Get the fuck off me! What the hell are you doing?!"

Steve immediately recognized the voice. He also noticed the blood slowly dripping from a cut above Danny's right eye as well as his tense, pained expression and quickly rushed to his friend's side.

"I got him, you can let go…" As soon as Danny had pushed himself up and away from the intruder, Steve hauled the guy roughly to his feet.

"Get up! Get UP!" Pushing him against the nearest wall, he started patting him for weapons. "What happened, Danny…?" Briefly glancing over at his friend, he saw him standing slightly hunched while accepting a kitchen towel from Chin to hold against his still bleeding wound.

"He broke into my apartment. And I'd actually like to report him now."

"Hey!" The guy started struggling again. "I didn't break in… I just came for a visit!"

Steve roughly shoved him into the wall again, pressing against his neck from behind, then leaning in close. "Shut UP, asshole! I hear one more word out of you, I'm gonna start using you for some target practice…"

"Steve…" Danny's placating tone was easily outvoiced by an obnoxious echo from his assailant.

"Yes, _Steve_ … your partner's a fag. You really want the whole island to know about that?!"

Steve pulled him back slightly, only to smash him into the wall again with even more force this time, barely holding on to the last shreds of his professional restraint.

"I'll start parading around in a rainbow _jumpsuit_ if that's what it takes," he snarled back angrily. "So if you think we'll keep this on the downlow because we're embarrassed... think again. I don't give a flyin' fuck who knows about this. You're going to jail, my friend. And by the way, I'm not doin' well with threats, in case you hadn't noticed." He increased the pressure he was using on the other man's neck some more, trying really hard to not lose it completely.

"Steve," this time it was Chin who calmly addressed him from behind. "I've got him. – Why don't you just let me take him to HPD? You can bring Danny in for an official statement tomorrow…"

Taking over from Steve, he could feel the guy stiffen at his words. "You can't be serious!"

Chin just smiled at the panicked protest. "Oh, we're serious… You know what's also very serious? Assaulting a police officer. And you know what's both serious and stupid? Assaulting a friend of Commander McGarrett here... But I'm sure you've already figured that out yourself." With that he simply started rattling off the guy's rights while pushing him towards the door none too gently.

Steve took a second to calm down a little, before carefully approaching his friend who had in the meantime sunken down on his couch, still holding the towel loosely against the side of his face.

"Danny…" Crouching down in front of the other man, Steve slowly reached for it, then hesitated slightly. "I'll just take a quick look, okay?" He didn't really know why he suddenly felt the need to ask for permission like that.

Waiting for Danny to nod slightly, he carefully lifted the towel away from the wound. Gently inspecting the damage for a minute, he finally searched his friend's tired gaze. "The cut doesn't look so bad, but it could do with a few stitches… How are you feelin', buddy? Any dizziness or nausea?"

"No… I'm fine, Steve."

The team leader couldn't suppress a somewhat pained smile at the typical self-assessment, taking in his partner's overall battered appearance with another critical glance. "You're not fine, Danny. You got any broken ribs?" He nodded towards his partner's right side that he'd been clearly guarding earlier.

"Nah… don't think so. Just bumped them a little when we both went down," he vaguely gestured into the direction of his former couch table, that currently lay shattered to pieces in the middle of the living room.

Steve followed his gaze and nodded in understanding. "Kay… let me see." He pushed Danny to lean back slightly, then pulled his shirt up to inspect the already bruising parts of his torso. Gently feeling the lower ribs first, he then started to carefully palpate the surrounding parts of his belly, stopping when Danny suddenly flinched slightly at the tentative probing.

Steve immediately locked eyes with him. "Think you may have cracked a couple of ribs, but your stomach feels soft, so that's good."

Despite everything, Danny couldn't help but smile slightly at that. "Soft, huh? Sounds like I'll have to up my morning crunches then, I guess…"

Steve returned a small smile. "No, no, soft's good in this case, Danno… means there's probably no internal bleeding." Then, more seriously again: "Anything else hurting…? What about your arm?" He nodded towards the cast that was clearly cracked along the back of the hand and lower part of the wrist.

"No idea. Probably hit it on something as well. Can't really remember right now..."

Reaching for the hand and gently turning the arm slightly to take a better look, Steve immediately interrupted the movement when Danny made a distressed sound and winced heavily in obvious pain. – That clinched it.

"Okay. Come on, buddy… let's get you to the ER; you need an x-ray."

"No! Steve. Just give me a minute… It's really not that bad."

The Navy SEAL couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. "Your _shriek of pain_ begs to differ… That arm wasn't nearly as painful before."

Danny glared at him defensively. "It wasn't as _painful_ because you've never _yanked_ it like that before. – And it wasn't a _shriek_ by the way…"

Another eye-roll. "I didn't yank it. I was actually being very _gentle_. – And now come on, Danno. Let's just get you checked out properly. I bet it'll only take an hour at most. And we need an injury report anyway…"

There was that.

They were on the road again five minutes later.


	5. Chapter 5

"When did you call?" Steve's calm question interrupted the unusual silence in Danny's car.

His partner slowly turned towards him, frowning slightly in apparent confusion. "Huh?" was all he finally gave back.

"You tried calling both Chin and me earlier… When was that, exactly."

"Oh." Danny turned his eyes towards the road again. "When I came home tonight, I saw a light on in the corridor that I was pretty sure I'd turned off before leaving for the office this morning. So I thought it might be a good idea to let one of you know before going in; just in case…"

Steve nodded slightly, but didn't reply anything for a minute or two. Then, even more quietly than before: "I'm sorry you couldn't reach us." To Danny's questioning frown he added in a somewhat tense voice: "I'm sorry we weren't there for you when you needed us…"

Danny's answer was accompanied by a mild eye-roll. "What's with the dramatics, babe? I'm alright."

No reply.

"I'm fine, Steve! This wasn't a serial killer that held me hostage in his _basement_ for a month. – It was just a stupid break-in. By an amateur stalker, I might add… I was never in any real danger. In fact, if it hadn't been for the damn cast, he'd never even have gotten that first hit in." He vaguely gestured towards his bloody forehead. Then, with a slightly exasperated sideward glance: "And I'm not traumatized or anything, so stop talking in this," he started gesturing again somewhat indistinctly, obviously trying to come up with the right words, "gooey soft voice that you only use for… for frightened puppies or… or people who've been in a _coma_ for a year."

Steve couldn't help but smile slightly at that. "Frightened puppies? I don't do frightened puppy talk, partner, you of all people should know that…"

"Whatever you wanna call it, cut it out please? 'Cause I don't like it; it makes me nervous."

Steve's smile softened considerably at that. "Okay. I'm sorry, I just… This whole thing had me really worried, you know."

He saw Danny turn his head again to look at him, the expression on his face relaxing as well. "That one was kinda hard to miss, buddy… But why?"

"Why?!" Steve threw him an incredulous glance. "The very first time you ever met the guy he tried forcing you to have sex with him and fricking broke your arm! I'd hate to think about what he could come up with once he really sets his mind to it…"

"Ah, that's sweet, babe," Danny did his best to lighten the mood a bit again, smiling softly. "You're human _after_ all. And worried about me… That's really good news! At least to me, 'cause I honestly had no idea."

"It's not funny, Danno."

His smile slowly faded. "I know it's not. – But it's alright, Steve. I'm really alright now."

* * *

"Yeah, you're not alright, detective…" The medic gestured towards the x-rays he had just ordered on Danny's left arm and torso. "You've got two rib fractures and re-broke your forearm."

It was Steve who answered with a concerned frown. "Re-broke… how bad?"

Turning towards him, the younger man gestured towards the pictures. "The slight reunion of the bones we've been seeing on his last x-ray is not visible anymore now. So, we're back at the beginning with this, even though the bones don't seem to have moved out of place again, so that's good at least."

Steve still looked worried. "What about his ribs?"

"Not threatening to puncture anything, if that's what you mean, and the fractures are not displaced. – But he needs rest. This is gonna hurt like hell for a while…"

"Right here, you know?" Danny piped up from the background. "And _'he'_ can actually hear you."

The doctor smiled slightly at that, turning towards his patient again. "As for the head wound…" He reached out suddenly to apparently check the recently stitched up cut again, causing Danny to flinch back sharply. The doctor stopped his movements at once. "I'm sorry, detective…" He frowned heavily at the unexpected reaction. "Are you okay?"

Danny immediately forced himself to relax again. "Yeah! Yeah, sure. Sorry, I'm good… just surprised me a little."

Glancing quickly at Steve, then at Danny again, the medic finally nodded though he was still frowning slightly. "As I was saying: We stitched up the head wound which should heal fine. Stitches can come out in about a week. No signs of concussion…"

"So, I'm good to go?"

Another weak smile from the medic. "As soon as we've fixed your cast. – You got any pain-meds left?"

"I'm fine," was the expected – and immediate – reply.

Steve couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. "He'd appreciate a prescription, doc, thanks."

"So, I take it you're the one to take him home?" Just a nod. "If he's in more pain with the arm or the swelling in his hand increases, have him wear the sling we gave him when he first got injured."

"Still right here!" Danny weakly protested again.

The medic all but ignored him. "Otherwise, I'd like to see him again in a week to pull the stitches and get some control x-rays…"

Danny frowned at that. "Will that really be necessary? You said the bones hadn't moved out of – "

The medic interrupted him with a soft smile. "Everything looks fine right now and I don't foresee any complications. – But I'd like to see you again in a week."

Danny just looked at him for a long moment, before finally resigning himself to his fate. He couldn't help but give one last sarcastic reply though.

"Fan _tas_ tic."

 **tbc... :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Just a short interlude... :) Sorry for the slightly longer wait this time!  
**

* * *

"You stayin' at my place tonight…?"

Danny once again turned towards his partner with a slight frown, briefly wondering if he'd develop chronic neck problems any time soon because of the endless glances he was forced to throw towards his left, with Steve driving him around as a passenger in his own _car_ all the damn time…

"Why would I do that," he finally returned calmly. "He's in custody right now and I don't even have a concussion…"

Steve briefly met his questioning gaze before immediately focusing on the road again.

"So?" he tried a semi-casual half-shrug. "Doesn't mean you can't crash with me. Guestroom's made up and my place is closer anyway…" The explanation sounded weak, even to his own ears.

Danny hesitated a moment, surely coming to the same conclusion. Which is why Steve was surprised, when he finally just nodded slightly.

"Sure, why not, thanks."

"Yeah?" Steve couldn't help but ask again, surprise – and mild suspicion – coloring his tone.

He almost felt Danny roll his eyes at him. "You want me to stay or not? Don't sound so surprised if you've just invited me! – What's the matter with you?!"

"No! I want you to stay. I'm… I'd like you to stay. – So we can both get some decent rest tonight…"

The statement was telling but – for once – Danny chose to just smile mildly in response.

After another long minute, however, he couldn't help but ask: "Why are you so freaked out by this, anyway. You know I'm alright, right?"

"I'm…" Steve hesitated slightly before finally almost blurting out: "The guy's a _freak_ , Danny! I have a bad feeling about him. And I didn't… I didn't even see any of this coming! _Couldn't_ see it coming because you… I still can't believe I had no idea about any of this."

"Ah, so control issues again, huh?" Danny was still smiling rather mildly. "You know everything now, so you can relax again, babe."

Another tense moment of silence. Then:

"He could have seriously hurt you."

Danny turned his head towards him again. "But he didn't."

Steve replied with a soft snort. "Oh yeah?! _He broke your arm_ , D! And he…"

Danny waited a moment, before finally prompting gently: "He what, Steve…?"

"You flinched back from the doctor." Steve's hands clenched around the steering wheel so hard Danny was afraid he might actually break something.

He hesitated briefly, before finally replying calmly: "He just startled me, that's all. – It's been… kind of a long day, you know?"

"It's been more than a long day, Danny." Annoyance was coloring Steve's tone now. "I've never seen you react like that and I've seen you shot, kicked and _beaten_!"

"Okay, so maybe this has been… a little more personal for me. – But I'm still FINE, Steve. You need to let this go…"

"But you're gonna give your statement tomorrow." It wasn't really a question.

Danny exhaled slowly, but finally nodded his head. "Yeah. Of course…"

"You worried…?"

"Am I worried?! Yeah, I'm worried! Who wouldn't be worried?!" Then slightly more quietly again: "The little schmuck's gonna tell everyone who wants to hear about it – and even everyone who _doesn't_ wanna hear about it actually – how we… met. This is gonna have all kinds of ramifications for me; for _us_ really… So yes, Steven, I'm officially worried."

Steve threw him an almost sympathetic glance.

"I have your back, buddy, _always_. You know that..."

Danny gave him a tense half-smile in response that looked more pained than anything else.

"Yeah… Maybe that's not such a great idea right now, Steve. Maybe you should actually just sit this one out."

* * *

It felt like the middle of the night when Steve suddenly woke up to the sound of movement in his house. Frowning slightly, he immediately sat up reflexively reaching for his gun, before he remembered that he actually had a house guest right now.

Getting up anyway, just to make sure, he quietly approached the staircase, seeing flickers of light coming up from the living room.

Danny had the TV on, sound muted, and was sitting on the couch, stiffly leaning back against a pair of cushions.

"Hey," Steve quietly announced his presence while he was still on the stairs, so as not to startle the other man. "You okay?"

Danny turned slightly to glance at him briefly, then carefully relaxed again. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm… alright. Just, you know… thought I was feeling a little sick earlier; but it's better now."

Steve frowned at that, regarding his friend critically for a moment. "Sick? You mean as in – "

"Sick, Steve," Danny interrupted him somewhat testily. "As in nauseous… What else do you think 'sick' could mean?!" Then, somewhat apologetically: "But it's fine now… Feel good again."

Still frowning slightly, and completely ignoring his friend's small outburst, Steve slowly sat down next to him. "Okay so, now… You can't sleep? – It's not the sound of the waves again, is it."

Danny couldn't help but smile slightly at the gentle teasing.

"Nah, I just… thought I'd sit here for a little while. Going back up in a minute."

Steve was still regarding him skeptically, not liking the very careful way he seemed to be holding himself. "Have you taken your meds?"

Danny threw him another short glance at that, rolling his eyes slightly, but at the same time already seeming less tense than before. "Yes, _Mom_ , just now actually." He nodded towards a glass still half-filled with water that was sitting on the coffee table in front of them.

Steve hesitated briefly, then simply relaxed back some more. "Okay, so… What are we watching?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey, Duke."

"Steve," the older man greeted back with a small smile. "How's your boy?"

Steve steadily met his questioning gaze. "He's okay. Just gave his statement," he nodded towards one of HPD's offices. "How's our perp?"

"Still in holding. Name's Aaron Dawkins. – Chin asked us to process him… thoroughly. Implied that you might wanna talk to him first…"

Steve couldn't help but smile slightly at Chin's foresight.

"Yeah, thanks Duke. I really appreciate it."

.

"So… I've got two statements that Detective Williams gave this morning." He put both files on the steel table between them. "Difference between them is – I'd say – 3 to 10 years for you…"

Dawkins frowned up at him, an overall grim expression on his face. "I don't understand what you're – "

Steve immediately interrupted him.

"There's the home invasion – there's simply no way around that. And the injuries that resulted from your… struggle… yesterday."

"As opposed to… what," was the rather unimpressed reply.

"As opposed to an additional assault charge involving a 'substantial bodily injury', which – in this case – would be a bone fracture. Not to mention the attempted sexual assault…"

"Attempted… hey! I didn't assault him like that. You weren't even there, man! – It's not my fault if he likes to play hard to get…"

" _You kiddin' me_ …?!" Steve stared at him incredulously, fighting to keep up at least part of his professional calm. "He told you 'no', which is when you tried to force him down, twisting his arm until it actually broke in the process!"

"That's what HE says," the other man returned coolly.

"And that's what his _injuries_ say."

Silence.

Steve finally forced himself to speak again, hating this but also knowing it was what Danny wanted. "So… Which of his two statements do you want us to file?"

Dawkins' eyes narrowed at that. "You mean: Have I already told your colleagues that we met at a gay bar? – That what you're asking?!"

The expression on Steve's face hardened some more.

"The only reason for him to press charges only for your _second_ transgression is to keep his private life just that – private. So yeah; that's what I'm asking."

Dawkins was still staring at him, an unreadable look on his face now.

"Why do you get involved like this at all? You almost sound like…" His expression suddenly changed to something resembling glee. "You with him? Fucking him I mean…? – You a fag, too?"

"You know what?! Maybe I do, maybe I don't. It's none of your damn business…" Then Steve suddenly snatched both files off the table, every clipped movement screaming barely controlled anger by now. "And you know what else…? I've had it with you. Forget about the deal. You're gonna be charged with every fucking thing you did and you're gonna go to jail for them… End of story."

.

"Maybe you do, maybe you don't…?" Danny was once again smiling at him rather mildly when he came storming out of the interrogation room five seconds later. "That you showing your solidarity for me, babe? I'm touched."

"Sorry, Danny, I…" Steve immediately started rubbing his forehead looking decisively guilty. "I just couldn't do it. The guy's such an asshole, we can't just let him off the hook like that."

"Yeah…" Exhaling slowly, Danny replied with a somewhat clipped nod. "Yeah, I know. So, let's just do this, huh?" He was trying for a brave smile, but Steve instantly saw the tense nervousness behind it.

"I'm with you _every step_ of the _way_ , buddy. And I don't even think it's such a big deal really… I mean. You're from the mainland anyway, right," he decided it was time for some careful teasing. "What's one more eccentricity, huh?"

"One more eccen – " Danny gave a slightly choked laugh, then smiled up at Steve somewhat wryly. "Yeah. You're probably right…" Then, quietly: "File the complete report. – I'm gonna go talk to Chin and Kono in the meantime. They should probably hear about this from me."

* * *

"How's the arm?" Chin was eyeing Danny's new cast with a slight frown.

"Uh…" Danny seemed to briefly consider replying something, but then he just started looking around before his eyes finally came to rest on Chin again. "Where's Kono? I need to talk to both of you about something." Nervously chewing first his lower, then his upper lip briefly, he couldn't have looked any more reluctant.

The frown on Chin's face deepened.

"She's out questioning Mrs Tapuko again. She should be back in a couple of hours. – Is there something wrong?"

"Wrong? There's… Nothing's wrong, exactly. I just – There's something I need to tell you, and it may come as a bit of a surprise."

Chin slowly nodded. "I see. – And does this have anything to do with the man that broke into your house yesterday?"

"It – yes." There was simply nothing else to reply.

Chin started smiling slightly. "So… do you want me to guess?"

"Do I want you to _guess_ ," Danny repeated with an incredulous look on his face. "No, _no_ , I don't want you to guess. Don't guess please. Just – " He took what sounded like a rushed, unsteady breath. "Let's just not make this any more painful than it has to be, okay?" He finished his tirade with a somewhat apologetic half-smile.

Chin's expression immediately sobered at his friend's stressed demeanor. "It doesn't have to be painful at all, Danny. And I think I already know what you're about to tell me anyway."

"Yeah," the other man seemed to just deflate at that, gaze shifting away from his colleague before finally settling on him again, reluctantly. "He wasn't exactly a poster boy for discretion the other day, was he."

"No. – So… Was this about him, specifically, or are you generally interested in… both men and women." Leave it to Chin to simply prompt him for the facts like this, getting right down to business.

Danny raised both eyebrows in a familiar reflex. "Was it specific? It was – no; _no_ , I wouldn't call it specific. I mean it's mostly women for me, but… No. It wasn't specific." He tried a small shrug, before starting to rub his swollen left hand slightly in another nervous gesture.

"Okay," was all Chin finally replied, still sounding very calm. "Thank you for telling me."

Danny searched his gaze at that, trying to read his expression.

But every bit of insecurity simply vanished at Chin's next words:

"So, as I was saying… How's the arm?"

 **tbc... (still :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you very much for your reviews and comments again! It's very nice to know some of you out there are still following this... :) Here's the next chapter - with a few more still to come after this one...**

* * *

"Detective Williams! It's good to see you again… How are you doing?"

Briefly scanning his chart, the medic rolled towards him with a small smile and a patient look.

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Well, you probably know best, Doc. What's the verdict?" He nodded towards the x-rays hidden in the folder the doctor was holding.

Another smile. "Your pictures look good. Everything seems stable…" He nodded towards Danny's head. "May I take a look?" He waited for Danny's slight nod before carefully peeling back the bandage still protecting the wound.

Studying it for a moment, he finally nodded with a satisfied look. "Okay, these stitches are ready to come out…" Reaching for a pair of surgical scissors, he carefully started to cut the knots all the while continuing to talk.

"How are you doing with your ribs, Detective? – Any trouble with the pain? Or breathing? Or sleeping…?"

"I'm good."

The medic couldn't help but smile again at that. "Wow. That must be the shortest reply you've ever given me. Not used to you being so monosyllabic."

Danny huffed out a breath. "Monosyll… – Alright, okay. Then let me rephrase that, _please_." He started gesturing carefully with his right hand, hindered only by the medic who was still busy removing the last of his stitches. "Thank you very much for asking, Doc, I'm doing alright. The pain is manageable, I'm breathing – which is really good, it's a relief – and when it's dark outside, I usually go to sleep. Which is how it's supposed to be, I guess."

"Yes, it is. And that sounds good." The medic leaned back now, slowly reaching out to touch, then gently probe Danny's left hand. "And how's the arm, detective? Fingers still seem a little swollen. – Have you been using the sling?"

Danny gave a one-sided shrug. "Sometimes. Hasn't been so bad, really… But yeah, in the evenings; if I needed to. – Hand still feels pretty weak though. It's hard for me to make a fist even…" His tone was more quiet at that, but otherwise unreadable.

Meeting his eyes again now, the medic slowly nodded. "That's what we'd expect at this point; it's normal, don't worry. And you're not supposed to be using the hand anyway. Just give it a rest for now… And I want you to keep taking the anti-inflammatories for a while, but you should start feeling some real relief in another week or so." Rolling back towards the only desk in the room, he started writing something on his prescription pad. Without looking up from what he was doing, he finally spoke again:

"So… How's Commander McGarrett?"

Danny immediately started frowning at that. "How's… He's good. What do you mean." Then, sounding almost stunned and definitely concerned: "Did he – ?" He vaguely gestured towards the room in general waiting for the medic to finally look up at him again.

"Oh, no no no… I'm sorry. He hasn't been here other than in his capacity to bring you in last week. Certainly not as a patient. Not recently at least …"

A brief look of relief, then Danny fixed his gaze on the other man again. "Then why do you ask."

The medic replied with an innocent shrug. "I just wanted to know how things were between you and the Commander. – I imagine he's not always an easy person to work with…"

The frown on Danny's face deepened. "Even though that couldn't be any more true, I honestly have no idea what you're saying right now." Then, raising both eyebrows in sudden, shocked understanding. "You don't mean…?" Pointing towards himself he vaguely indicated his head, arm and rib section. "I hope you're not talking about _this_ because – very obviously – Steve has had NOTHING to do with it."

The medic was still calmly looking at him, waiting.

"I'm serious, Doc. Why would you even THINK something like that?! – Steve may look like a big bad Navy SEAL, and he certainly acts like a Neanderthal much of the time, but he's got the softest heart I know, trust me; he would never do anything like that."

"Okay," was all the medic returned, voice neutral. Then, carefully: "It's just that you both seemed pretty spooked last week. I've actually never seen you like that, and as you know, I've seen you here plenty of times…"

Nodding a few times, Danny briefly looked down, then up at the medic again, voice firm. "Commander McGarrett has had no part in my injuries, and I'm talking _zero_ involvement here. So, I appreciate your concern, Doc, but there's _truly_ nothing to worry about in that regard."

"Alright." A hesitant nod. "That's good to hear, because Commander McGarrett has 8 inches and at least 30 pounds on you. Things like these can get real dangerous real quick…"

Danny nodded with once again raised eyebrows. "I _see_ that! But as I said, this is not what's been happening here. – And, please, _please_ , don't say anything about this to Steve; I'm serious, man. He's already freaked out by this whole thing enough as it is. Last thing we need is for you to accuse him of some sort of domestic abuse on top of all that…" To the other's surprised look, he quickly amended: "Or workplace abuse, whatever it is you've been thinking exactly…"

The medic finally replied with a soft smile. "Alright. Of course not. I take your word for it, Detective Williams." He handed over the prescription. "So… If you don't have any more questions for me right now: Please see us or your GP for another follow-up in two weeks. And don't hesitate to come in again, should you experience any problems in the meantime..."

Accepting the script, Danny nodded slightly, meeting the medic's gaze and holding it. "Okay. And thanks, Doc."


	9. Chapter 9

"You need a hand?"

Standing in the doorway to his friend's bedroom early the next morning, Steve regarded Danny's painful attempt at undressing with an expression that ranged somewhere between amused and concerned. Leaning towards amused.

"Uh, no, thanks. – But the t-shirt was a very bad idea. Next time I try this with broken ribs, just punch me in the face, alright?" He moved a bit again, but didn't really seem to be getting anywhere. "What are you doing up here anyway? I told you I'd be there in just a second…"

Steve immediately nodded, smiling slightly. "Yes, you did. But time seems to be very relative today, my friend..." Then, finally stepping into the room: "Come on, let me just help you with that." He gestured for Danny to sit on the bed, then made him lean forward slightly. "Can you lift your arms a little bit?" Waiting for his friend to comply, he pulled the back of the shirt up and over his head, carefully freeing him of the constricting fabric.

"There you go… you okay?"

Danny had paled slightly, but immediately nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Steve frowned a little at his once again rather shallow breathing. "What did the doc say yesterday?"

"Uh..." Danny considered his answer briefly. "Says everything's looking good. Should start feelin' better soon. – Not that I'm not... feeling alright already, just... you know what I mean."

Predictably, the frown on Steve's face had only deepened at his somewhat incoherent rambling. "You need some more meds?"

A mild eye-roll. "No, Steve… I'm fine. – And stop with the over-protectiveness; _please_ …"

Lifting his hands in mock surrender, Steve slowly sat down next to him. "Well, if you're in this kinda mood, I guess you probably won't like what I'm asking next." A soft, slightly wry smile.

Danny just looked at him warily. "What."

"I'd like you to come back to my place for a couple of days… Duke just called. Asshole made bail."

The expression on Danny's face hardened slightly, but he still tried for a casual half-shrug. "Well, that was to be expected, wasn't it… And it doesn't matter anyway. Restraining order, remember?"

Steve couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. "As if that's gonna keep him from doing anything, if he's even just half as crazy as I _think_ he is..."

Not replying anything, Danny simply got up and started collecting his work clothes, wisely choosing a simple button down shirt this time.

Steve gave him a minute, before finally pressing gently: "Danny…?"

His friend turned abruptly. "What do you want me to say?! I don't think it's a good idea. In fact, I think it's a _terrible_ idea!"

"And why's that."

"I just don't think," Danny started gesturing expansively with his good right hand, "that we should have my… _situation_ … start reflecting on you somehow right now."

Steve's face scrunched up dramatically at that. "Your _situation_ …?! – And how is it _reflecting_ on me with you simply staying at my house for a few days? Just like you did _four dozen_ times before…"

Danny stared at him incredulously. "You really need me to explain that to you?"

"Yes! Everybody assumes we're more or less in a relationship anyway. What would we suddenly care…?"

Danny just looked at him for another long moment, before suddenly starting to rub his face wearily. "There've been some… emails, Steve. So – right now – it's just not a good idea to… _reaffirm_ … any idea people might have on our exact… association."

Of course, Steve immediately zoomed in on the one critical information in all of that.

"Emails...? What emails?! You didn't tell me about any emails!"

"Just some…" Danny started gesturing again, this time clearly trying to tone things down. "…guys – I guess – expressing their opinion on… different types of modern life-style choices."

Steve was still frowning heavily. " _Guys_ …? What guys?! – Are you talking about police _officers_?! Has anyone from HPD – "

"Steve! Just… Slow down, alright?" He had lifted both hands in a placating gesture by now, before carefully letting his casted arm sink again. "They were anonymous. And there wasn't anything threatening in them. Just… strong opinions; as I said. It's _fine_." He slowly sat down on the bed next to Steve again. "But I still think that it would be a good idea right now to not _over-emphasize_ our… connection."

"Well, I disagree," was all Steve replied matter-of-factly.

"Oh, you _disagree_!" Danny lifted both eyebrows. "Well then, by all means, let's just move in together and continue with the married couple routine everyone knows and loves while simply _ignoring_ everything that's been happening, huh?"

Steve just looked at him for a second before simply confirming with a short nod: "Ok."

"Okay?!" Two eyebrows shooting up again. "No no no, Steve… it's not _okay_. – Just listen to me, alright? Just this once." Steve reluctantly met his gaze again, but he was already looking ready to object. "I love you very much, buddy, you know that. And I really appreciate the concern and… all you've been doing for me."

"But?"

"But I don't wanna hurt you with this. Your… _reputation_. – As a Navy SEAL, man, remember?"

Steve scoffed openly at that. "I don't give a rat's ass about any of that right now. What I care about, Danno, is getting rid of the asshole who started this whole thing. Without letting him do any more damage to _you_. So, I appreciate you wanting to do the noble thing here, the martyr thing, but I'm not ready to risk your well-being, your _life_ maybe, just to protect my 'reputation' as you put it; the integrity of which is somewhat shaky by now anyway, by the way…" A self-deprecating half-smile.

Danny nodded, his expression neutral – at best. "So, say I come back to your place… and then what. – Even if we asked the Governor to put a rush on this, it could still be a while before the whole thing actually goes to trial." Then, turning towards the other man: "Tell you what. I'll have someone come in and update the security system in here. But I'm not going into hiding for the next year of my life. And I'm not allowing you to take a hit for something that has _nothing_ to do with you."

Steve didn't meet his gaze, but immediately replied in a quiet voice: "It _has_ something to do with me, Danno, because it has something to do with _you_."

Fighting back a spontaneous, and completely ridiculous, watering of his eyes, Danny immediately nodded, more grateful than ever to have this man as his friend.

" _Thank you_ , Steve. I mean it. – But I'll be fine. Everything's going to be fine.


	10. Chapter 10

Danny stood in front of his living-room window frowning slightly. He'd seen the HPD car pass by his house for the fifth time in two days. – In light of the recent flood of emails he'd been receiving, he suspected that couldn't be good…

When – two days later – a black car was parked three houses down and remained there for most of the night, Danny finally had enough.

Grabbing his gun, he was almost out the door when he suddenly froze at a shadow falling in through one of the windows. Pressing his back against the wall, he slowly approached it until he finally saw the man producing it. To his shock, it was a former colleague of his he immediately recognized. Gordon something… Sullivan, if he remembered correctly. Sneaking back towards the door he abruptly pushed it open, weapon immediately trained on the police officer who was still hovering close to his living-room window.

Quickly turning away from the window and towards him now, the other man looked visibly shocked when he found himself in Danny's direct line of fire. Instead of going for his own gun, however, he immediately lifted both hands in the universal sign of surrender.

"It's HPD, Detective Williams! Don't… Just lower your gun, please."

Danny didn't move, biting his upper lip, but holding his position.

"Sullivan… What the hell are you doing here?!" He saw the other man lower his arms slightly. "Don't move!"

"Williams!" Sullivan frowned at him in obvious irritation now. "Danny… Security detail! Lower your fucking gun."

Danny relaxed his stance minutely. "Security detail?" He was frowning as well by now, confused by the seeming turn of events. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"I'm talking about the security detail that was assigned to keep an eye on your house." He let the information sink in for a minute before shrugging his arms slightly. "May I take my hands down again now?" He sounded a little testy by now.

Danny slowly lowered his gun. "Yeah sure, sorry man. I thought – "

"You thought what?" They both turned towards a window suddenly lighting up in the neighborhood. "I'm coming to you, alright?"

Nodding slightly, Danny gestured him in, but he didn't holster his weapon. "Yeah, come on in, man. We probably shouldn't be doing this out here…"

He closed the door behind them as soon as the other man had entered.

The police officer regarded the gun Danny was still holding with another small frown. "Danny… I promise you, you're not gonna be needing that. – You _know_ me, man. Why don't we just talk for a minute?"

Hesitating only briefly, Danny finally holstered his gun again, but his posture remained tense.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night? – What security detail…? Who the hell ordered it?!"

A small shrug. "I don't know, man… The Chief? The Governor? – All I know is that we patrol on your street every other hour during the day and keep an eye on everything from a stationary car between 9 and 5 at night."

Danny finally just deflated at that with a long exhale of breath. "Fuck…" He looked up again at his former colleague, somewhat sheepishly meeting his probing gaze: "A heads up would have been nice. – I'm really sorry about the… scene out front, Gordon. I didn't know about any of this."

That finally brought a small smirk out of the other man. "Obviously." Then, somewhat more seriously again: "What I don't understand… You recognized me. You know I'm HPD. – Why the gun?"

Danny looked a mixture of embarrassed and annoyed at the question. "You're standing in front of my window in the middle of the night… What did you think I'd – "

They were interrupted by a small noise at the door.

Danny immediately froze, pulling his weapon again without hesitation.

Sullivan was once again eyeing him critically. "Relax, man. It's probably just my partner. – He was waiting in the car when I came to check on you up close. He must be wondering by now why I haven't come back yet." He put one hand on his own weapon, but didn't pull it.

Throwing him a quick glance, as if to make sure he was still standing several feet away from him, Danny quietly approached the door to look through the peephole. "Yeah… it's your partner."

The frown on Sullivan's face deepened when he saw him not simply relax again at that.

"Well… should we let him in maybe?"

Danny turned towards him at the testy question, clearly taking in the fact that the police officer still hadn't pulled his own gun. – He still hesitated slightly.

"I don't…" His gaze flit briefly to the stairs leading up to his bedroom. And Gracie's room… "Why don't you just tell him to meet you back at the car?"

Sullivan frowned heavily at that. "Sure, if that's what you want. But – I can tell he's getting nervous out there. Let's just show him that everything's okay in here, alright?"

Danny lifted his gun slightly at that, not pointing it at his colleague, exactly, but clearly stressed by this new development and the suggestion that somehow seemed to make him suspicious again. Sullivan lifted his hands reflexively, trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

"Danny… just try to relax please. We're on your side, man. – I'm sorry you weren't informed about the PSD, but there's truly nothing to worry about here." Then he suddenly called out in a louder tone of voice: "Dave?"

"Gordon?"

"Yeah. – Everything okay out there?"

"Out here? Yeah! – But what the hell is going on with you?! Open the door, will you?"

"Yeah, but… no gun, Dave, alright? Everything's fine in here as well. I'm coming to open the door."

He threw Danny a short glance and – receiving no obvious objection from the other man – passed him to do just that.

As soon as he had entered as well, Sullivan's partner frowned at the gun in Danny's hand.

"Detective Williams…? Everything alright in here?" He made no move to pull his own weapon.

"Yeah… Yes. I guess."

When he didn't say anything else, Sullivan calmly spoke up again. "Detective Williams wasn't informed about our presence. So he was a little surprised to see me, which is understandable. Still _is_ surprised, I guess…" Then, nodding towards Danny's cell phone: "Tell you what. Why don't you just call Sergeant Lukela? You're friends, right? He'll confirm everything that's been going on, and then we can all finally relax again." A small smile that took any potential sting out of his words.

Danny nodded slowly, briefly looking towards the stairs again before finally replying with a very weak smile. "Yeah, Duke's a friend but I'm really… messed up right now guys, I'm so sorry about all of this." Fishing out his cellphone with his casted left hand and a small grimace, he quickly pressed speed-dial #1 and the speaker button.

"Yeah… Danny?" A tired voice greeted him already after the second ring.

"Steve. I'm sorry to wake you man, but I… have a small problem."

* * *

tbc... :)


End file.
